


Soup

by Goldielochs



Category: Lore Olympus (Webcomic)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2019-08-17
Packaged: 2020-09-06 02:43:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20284081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goldielochs/pseuds/Goldielochs
Summary: Hades gets sick and isn't used to someone being there to take care of him.





	Soup

A low growl echoed through her arms. Where her head rested, something moved, throwing off the distribution of weight. A tight pull on the fabric. A launch. The growl now echoed around her, pulling her back from her bleary eyed slumber and grounding her in the here and now. Persephone blinked awake with swollen eyes, peering sideways over her folded arms. Her arms rested on a firm mattress as she crumpled over from an awkward position in a chair. She blinked again. These weren't her bedsheets and this wasn't her bed. She straightened out, her neck pinging with the odd angle she slept in. Her hand felt fuzzy but as she drew it in, his hand gripped on to her tighter, not letting her go. He held her hand to his chest and it rose with his disturbed breathing.

Hades. Her heart caught in her throat.

Now she remembered. The images flooding back to her: Knocking on his door, with a care package under her arm.

"Hi." Persephone greeted on his doorstep. "I just came by to see how you were. . ." Hades partially collapsed in the doorway. "Doing." Persephone finished lamely while propping him up against the door.

"You shouldn't have come." He murmured, his eyelids kept closing and then fluttering open moments later. "I'm fine."

"Yep. You're right as rain." Persephone moved him to a rolling chair.

"You'll get-" He coughed into his arm and groaned at the scratch in his throat. "I might be contagious." He poked her hand on his shoulder, imagining that he was being very forceful and commanding.

"I thought you were fine?" She teased him.

"I am." Hades nodded, but the movement caused his headache to spike. "See. I came into the kitchen all by myself." He argued while nestling further into the chair Persephone was rolling him through his house by.

"Yes, you're very self sufficient. King of the Underworld, walking into his own kitchen. Who would have thought." Persephone rolled her eyes. "Now, where are your glasses?"

"On my head." He tried to point to his eyes, but misjudged the distance and jammed his nose in. "Ow." Persephone pulled his hand off his face and set it back in his lap.

"No. No. Like drinking glasses." Persephone started browsing through his kitchen till she found what she wanted. Hades whimpered quietly to himself as she filled up a glass of water.

"Here." She offered him the drink and checked his forehead.

Hades sipped at the water, then fall back against the chair. "I don't want your help." He muttered stubbornly.

"More please." Persephone tilted the glass to his lips. "When was the last time you took medicine?"

He shrugged then pushed the glass away and tried to stand up. "I don't need medicine. I'm fine." Blood rushed to his head and Persephone once more had to guide him back down. A cry of pain walloped out of him involuntarily and Persephone held his head against her chest and let him sniff against her shirt.

"K-Kore." Hades blinked, having a moment of lucidity. "Kore." Something in his tone, caught her off guard.

"I'm here." Persephone reassured him.

"I - I don't feel good." He admitted. "I really don't feel good."

"Oh, honey. I know. I know." She combed his hair back. "Medicine?" Persephone asked again.

"Itsssaaa mmmm it's above the microwave." Hades tried very hard to stay present. Kore in the Kitchen. Kore in the Kitchen, he chanted to himself, keeping him grounded.

She eventually found something that would work and put it in Hades hand.

"I don't like medicine." Hades hissed. "I don't want to take it."

Persephone placed a cool hand against his cheek. "Please?" She asked sweetly. "For me?"

A moment passed. Slowly, Hades popped the few pills into his mouth and reached his hand out for the water.

"Thank you." Persephone sighed in relief. His eyes fluttered open as she pressed a cold washcloth to his forehead. "Come on." She sighed. "Let's get you in bed. Sound good?"

"Mhm." Hades agreed, weakly.

From his perch on his dog bed, Cerberus watched Persephone wheel his owner down the hallway towards the master bedroom. He heard a small thud and a very apologetic "Sorry!" as she accidently ran him into the wall.

She hoisted him up to his full height. His robe came undone, revealing his full naked body, but Persephone didn't even blush as she helped him to the edge of the bed. He timbered onto his back, muttering something under his breath. If he'd been in a better state of mind, he would have been embarrassed. He would have covered himself. Instead, he let Persephone swing his legs up onto the bed too. He kept losing it. He came back for a second, feeling something cold on his chest. "What are you doing?" He murmured.

"It's to help open up your sinuses. Open up your chest, help you breath." Persephone explained, rubbing a special poultice over his muscles.

"You ever seen a naked king before?" Hades asked out of the side of his mouth. "Here it is." His hand waved pathetically by his side. "All its glory."

"Even a king can get sick." Persephone commented diplomatically. Though with one hand she pulled up the covers and tucked him in, a blush rising to her cheeks now. Her other hand continued rubbing in the poultice.

"That feels nice." He sighed and slipped back under his sick fog. Hades coughed in agony. His face scrunching up, agitated. It hurt her to see him like this. And yet. The vulnerability. . . was kind of nice. The power dynamic shifted. There wasn't king and minor goddess. . . or boss and intern. It was the sick and the caretaker.

She shook her head -what was she thinking- and got up to change out the washcloth.

In a panic, Hades eyes fluttered open and his hand gripped her arm. "Kore?" He looked up at her, alarmed and completely vulnerable. Worry lines etched into his face.

"I'm here." She stated again comfortingly.

"Kore." Hades took in a deep breath and settled back against the pillow. "Kore." He patted her arm, releasing his grip. "Kore." He hummed to himself, his eyes dropping forward once again. After she thought he was asleep again Hades muttered a soft, "Stay. Please." He begged.

She did stay. After that she stayed up all night and watched over him as he tossed and turned. She must have fallen asleep at his side.

Cerberus continued to growl. Persephone blinked again. Right. Cerberus woke her up. Persephone glanced over at two shadows in the doorway.

"Oh." She gasped and wiped something away on her face. "Cerberus, stand down." She commanded. "It's alright." Cerberus looked back at Persephone, and with her word, trotted back to the bed, allowing Hestia and Zeus to come in.

Hades stirred in front of her. His body twisted and a low pathetic moan on his lips whined out. "Sh-sh-sh-sh." Persephone turned her back on the new arrivals and soothed him with a stroke of her hand. It didn't matter who walked in that door; Hades took priority.

With an assertive grace, Persephone checked the wash cloth on Hades forehead, peeling it back and feeling his temperature.

She sighed in relief.

"Persephone, dear, what are you doing here?" Hestia asked first. Zeus looked inquisitively at Cerberus, curious and taken aback.

"I um." Persephone scratched the back of her head. "Same as you, I suppose." She stood up from her chair at his bedside, careful not to bump into his nightstand. A cold cup of tea, a humidifier, a nearly empty box of kleenex, and a large bottle of powerade cluttered the table.

Her right hand still clung to his chest.

"Have you been here all night?" Hestia asked. She stepped towards her but then Cerberus started growling again.

"All night?" Persephone blinked and looked out the window at the dark starless underworld. "Oh." She shook her head. Time couldn't be counted by the weather outside here. She gently removed her hand from Hades and moved the box of Kleenex on the table. His alarm clock read "8:12am."

"Yesh." Persephone stretched her limbs out. That's why she was so sore. She'd been sitting in that god awful position for at least three hours. She rubbed her puffy eyes and yawned.

Zeus appraised her carefully. This wasn't what he was expecting. A warm glow filled him up when he saw Persephone sitting next to his ill brother. A wholesome feeling that he didn't know quite how to handle. Hera was going to die when he told her.

"I came over last night to check on him after school." Persephone explained. "I knew he was getting sick the day before yesterday. I told him he needed to rest but he's so stubborn." She pulled the covers up and patted them gently while she spoke. "He-he was in a bad way last night. His fever was breaking." She winced remembering his condition. The sweat on his forehead. The constant change of body temperature, hot and cold, back and forth. The way he clung to her, begged her not to go. There wasn't anything she could do but watch him sweat it out. "I couldn't leave him like that." She shook her head and took in a steadying breath. "But he's much better now. I gave him a draught to put him to sleep. Judging by his body mass, he should be out for a few more hours." She turned to look at the stunned faces of his family.

Hestia smiled proudly, seeing herself in Persephone, and held out the bundle she carried in. "I brought my famous homemade chicken noodle soup. If it doesn't do the trick, nothing will."

"Oh that's so thoughtful." Persephone said graciously. Nothing cures an ailment like Hestia's chicken noodle soup. She brought it for her when she had the pixie pox. "Here, let me take this to the kitchen. No no. I don't mind. I need to change out his washcloth anyway. And I need to get out of this room." She felt sticky and warm.

But Hestia refused. "You've stayed up all night."

"Really, Hestia I don't mind." She took the soup from the goddess of the hearth. "I'll give you guys a moment." She looked back at Hades, who drowsily snoozed away. His frazzled hair pushed back with drying sweat, his mouth hung open because his nose was stopped up. She grinned. He's kind of cute when he's pathetic. "He's all yours." She stepped towards the hallway.

Cerberus growled at the two of them.

"Cerberus. Come on. Leave them alone."

He whined looking at his master, laying vulnerable and exposed. "Cerberus." Persephone called him. He obeyed and plopped off the bed to her side.

She made her way to the kitchen. A journey she made over a dozen times through the night and at this point it felt nearly automatic. He stopped throwing up early on, which made it easier the rest of the night.

She opened up his large fridge and set Hestia's soup on an empty shelf. Whenever he woke up, she could heat it up for him. She tilted her head and hummed, taking note of the items he seemed to be lacking for a fully operating home kitchen. When she closed the door Zeus was leaning against the cabinets, watching her closely.

"Hey." Persephone greeted. "It was nice of you to come by."

Zeus held his hands up. "Oh no. Don't get the wrong idea." He excused himself of any form of familial attachment. "Hestia is the nurturing thoughtful one. I'm here on a practicality." He sat up on Hades kitchen counter and tapped the espresso machine.

"Practicality?" Persephone asked while turning on the sink and rinsing off the washcloth in her hand. Cerberus watched her movements curiously.

"Yes, well. I have to make sure the whole kingdom doesn't combust. It's not often that Hades has to take a sick day, but the ramifications of his absence might leak out into the other kingdoms and oof," He waved his hand. "It could turn into a real mess."

"Oh. So are you gonna help oversee operations for awhile?" She wrung out the cloth. She tried to imagine Zeus taking control of the underworld in the interim and quickly decided she didn't like it.

"Nope." Zeus shook his head. A clever smile spread across his face. "You are."

"Wh-what?" Persephone gasped, her knees buckled and she had to hold onto the counter top. "What do you mean, me? I'm- I'm just an intern."

"I'm appointing you as officer in charge until Hades gets better." Zeus said simply, enjoying the moment immensely.

"But, this is Hades kingdom. I mean, shouldn't he-"

"He could make the call if he wanted to, but one: he's in no state to make that call and two: As I oversee all gods and godly operations. . ." Zeus hopped off the counter. "By the power vested in me, Zeus, King of the Gods, I grant you, Persephone, interim control over the Underworld. There. That's that." Zeus was so relieved. This arrangement was like killing two birds with one stone.

Persephone squeezed the wash cloth. Her head running a mile a minute. "Why me?"

Zeus clapped his hands together, a job well done. "You should probably get used to it." He took the washcloth from her open hands and glided back down towards Hades' bedroom. "Don't worry about Hades. We'll take care of him from here. You've got work to do." He winked at Persephone. "Good luck."

Persephone had a million questions to ask. Her heart raced. Her mind ran rampant. In charge. She was in charge.

Cerberus licked her hand and whined. She looked down at him and gulped. "I'm not a coffee drinker." She admitted. "But I'm gonna need some coffee."

**Author's Note:**

> An alternative ending to this would be Hades and Persephone huddled under the same blanket and sharing a box of kleenex cuz he got her sick.
> 
> Let me know what you think! Thank you for reading and reviewing.
> 
> xoxo Goldie


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